


Time Can't Heal Everything

by Johnnyghoul



Category: Blue Beetle (Comics), Booster Gold (Comics), DCU (Comics), Justice League International (Comics)
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, pre-teds death but it is implied booster has seen it in timelines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 22:44:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15567987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Johnnyghoul/pseuds/Johnnyghoul
Summary: Booster wakes up from a nightmare and has a PTSD episode and Ted helps him out.  They are loving husbands in this and Booster has a robotic arm.A fic about Booster and Ted dealing with their PTSD together.





	Time Can't Heal Everything

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fanfic! So it would be kind if you left comments telling me what you think.
> 
> This doesn't really matter to the story but my Booster and Ted are both transgender men and they got married in the 80s before gay marriage was legalized, that's briefly mentioned (but might have a follow-up fic about it). 
> 
> I personally have PTSD and I'm physically disabled so this fic is semi-personal but written from a outsiders pov.

The sound of something crashing to the floor in the other room woke Ted from his deep sleep. 

“Boost, did you hear that?” Ted grumbles, still lethargic rolling onto his stomach and slinging his arm to Boosters side of the bed. Though instead of greeting his husband with a loving clothesline to the chest, Ted was met with an empty space. 

Ted’s eyes shot open, confirming that there was a Booster-shaped dent in the bed but no Booster. Quickly he tumbled out of bed, slowing only a moment to snatch the BB-gun off the nightstand, and cautiously wandered out of the bedroom in search of where the sound came from.

‘Okay, Ted...let’s not panic here..’ Ted thought to himself as he lightly treaded around corners of the living-room and kitchen. ‘It’s not like we have any mortal enemies, fight villains every other day in bright spandex, OR have been killed before-’

He stopped just before stepping on broken glass. Worry filled his chest as he knelt down to pick up a picture frame that was laid face down, surrounded by scatterings of glass on the floor. Ted carefully turned the frame in his hands, cursing as he pricked his finger despite his cautiousness. He could swear he felt his heart stutter when he saw what picture the frame held. In the photo was Booster and him on the night of their wedding. 

Their wedding wasn’t the big publicity stunt many people would expect from the Blue and Gold. Even if Booster was disappointed his ludicrous wedding plans he dreamt up as a kid from a open-minded future were trashed. Instead, it was a small get together between them and the JLI at Guy’s bar. Guy had made sure that the bar was freed up for the night, allowing the newlywed couple and friends to have a carefree night with no fear of a bystander calling them a homophobic slur, or the law crashing the place. Yeah, Guy was hot headed, but he had a protective streak towards the JLI whether he’d admit it or not. 

Ted and Booster were cheek to cheek in the photograph, Booster with a veil they’d found at a thrift store atop his head and Ted with a horrendously colored bow tie around his neck, laughing as their friends huddled around behind them in the booth they were sitting in. Tora and Sue had their arms wrapped around the two in a bear hug as Bea leant on Tora with a warm smile. Scott and Barda sat to the side, Scott barely peeking over her shoulder to get into the picture. Behind them was Guy and Ralph making ridiculous faces as Ralph took the photo. 

Ted stood and gently placed the picture frame back on the mantle. ‘Okay..worry about sweeping broken glass later, find husband now.’ He thought to himself and stepped back, glancing around the penthouse living room. 

There was no apparent sign of struggle, other than the broken picture of course, the pillows on the couch were still thrown about from when Booster carried him to bed after their weekly Mystery Science Theater 3000 marathon. 

‘Maybe a vanishing villain Hero-napped Booster before he could fend them off?...or maybe some scoundrel with a shrink ray shrunk him and they are currently having a miniscule fight and I just can’t see it?’ Ted worried as he knelt down and lifted a couch cushion, squinting and examining it. His mind raced with possible danger his husband could be in.

A soft murmur came from the bathroom down the hall and halted the panic in Ted’s mind for a moment, only to bring it back full force when the Azure Avenger realized the noise was someone crying. Booster crying. 

Forgetting any intention of being stealthy, Ted bounded down the hall, BB-gun in hand, ready for a fight. But as he swung open the door expecting a bathroom menace attacking his lover, all he saw was a startled Booster. 

“Booster!” Ted exclaimed, relief rushed over him for a moment before he took notice to the condition his husband was in. 

Booster was hunched on the floor, shaking and leaning his weight against the bathtub’s side. He met Ted’s eyes for a moment before a sob caught in his throat and he curled up in himself, hiding his tear-stained face from the other hero. 

Ted glanced over the restroom for any signs of a fight, but found nothing awry other than the golden-haired man curled into a ball. Then it clicked. This wasn’t a midnight show-down with a supervillain. In hindsight it was stupid for him to think that. This was something entirely else.

 

Being a superhero wasn’t all the glitz and glamour The Booster Gold Toothpaste billboards made it out to be. Booster and Ted both had the scars to prove it—hell, Booster had a entire robotic arm to show for it. Physical scars came with their baggage, and took a toll on them both. 

Ted had suffered from anxiety since he was in middle-school and it had only worsened when his mentor, Dan Garrett, died. Booster’s death, albeit only momentarily, had brought that fear back into his life. He could only imagine how Booster himself felt. The months after the battle against Overmaster had been filled with physical therapy, experimental procedures, and countless nights spent holding each other through the misery. 

Ted mentally scolded himself for bursting into the bathroom with such haste, knowing now that it only had made Boosters state worse. He placed the BB-gun down on the sink counter and carefully made his way over to crouch in front of the shaking man who adamantly refused to look at him.

Gently in almost a whisper, “Boost, buddy, can you look at me?” Ted asked, careful to not startle the other man anymore than he already had. “Booster, It’s me, It’s Ted. I’m right here, buddy.”   
Booster lifted his head slightly from his knees to look at Ted, eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion and maybe a hint of frustration. “Ted?” he croaked, almost surprised that he was even there. 

“Yeah, I’m here” Ted repeated. It wasn’t his fault that Booster was shocked his husband had come to the rescue, that was just part of the illusion. Still, he felt a pang of guilt. He wasn’t entirely sure why Booster always fell into the belief that he was gone whenever traumatic memories spiked, but he learned not to question it. Something to do with the time-stream and things Ted wasn’t allowed to know about. 

Ted almost wishes Booster never had taken up the job of Times-savior. The gold hero was too stubborn to admit it, but seeing the countless travesties of other worlds took a toll on him. Rip Hunter or whoever be damned, he only wanted his husband to be happy even if it was selfish.

“Is it okay if I come closer and touch you, Boost?” Ted asked, and carefully moved over to the other man as he nodded. 

Booster unraveled from himself and fell into Ted’s waiting embrace. Ted held him as tightly as he could. He could feel Boosters metallic digits dig painfully into his back but he didn’t care. He’d survive a few meager bruises if it meant Booster feeling better. 

With his arms wrapped around Booster, Ted began to gently rock with him, reassuring him in hushed tones and humming the theme song to Cheers. 

It was almost routine now, these questions they would ask each other during times like this. Back when these episodes started, Booster and him came up with a plan, for whenever either of them were triggered, to help each other through them without causing more distress. It didn’t always work, but it provided a structure to help come back down to stable ground. 

 

Throughout the process the two had made it out of the bathroom and into the living room, the sofa was a far more comfortable place to cuddle than the tile floor in the other room. Gradually, naming off their surroundings and talking about what they had ordered for dinner earlier that night, helped Booster become grounded in the present. 

“Sorry,” Booster sniffed as he pulled away from Ted, wiping his eyes with his non-robotic hand. 

“Don’t be.” Ted offered him a smile and reached out to cup Booster’s face. “Do you want to talk about it?” He inquired, wiping away a stray tear from Booster’s cheek with one of his thumbs.

Booster paused momentarily, glancing down at the carpet and resting his prosthetic hand on Ted’s forearm. Ted’s mind wandered as he felt the sensory pads on Boosters hand rub against his skin while he caressed his arm. Were the sensations the replacement hand as genuine as the original? Probably not—Not that Booster would tell him that his invention was anything but perfect. 

Booster sighing brought him back to the moment at hand. “Yeah...okay, yeah I can.” Booster spoke, looking back at Ted and withdrawing his hand from the other’s arm. 

“I’m not entirely sure what happened… I woke up and could hardly breathe, so I guess it was a nightmare.” He began, reaching up to rub at his shoulder where the metal met his flesh. “But then while I was laying there...my...whole side started to hurt and it felt like…” Booster chewed on his lip a moment. “It felt like it was happening all over again.” He quickly finished. 

He didn’t have to elaborate on what “it” was. Ted knew from countless other nights and group therapy sessions together. Ted pulled Booster into a firm but careful hug again for a minute before sitting back with him, their hands intertwined.

“Next time just...try to wake me up okay? It’d spare us the expense of a new picture frame” Ted joked, attempting to lighten the mood. Booster chuckled slightly in response. 

“Hey! That wasn’t my fault! With the pink and blue frame it was in? It’s a miracle I didn’t break that while in my right mind.” Booster tapped the side of his head with his finger and laughed. “But really..I’m not sure why I knocked it over...maybe it was an accident.” Booster shrugged and leaned his full weight on Ted’s side.

“Maybe.” Ted agreed, glancing at the broken frame on the mantle. Ted knew that probably wasn’t entirely the case. Booster always got sensitive when looking at old photos of himself, back before Overmaster cut into his life with a battle axe. During episodes that jealousy of his past self only got worse. Though, if Booster couldn’t remember that at the moment, Ted wasn’t going to remind him.  
Booster reached his arm over and began to gently rub the hair on Teds chest, “Thanks for rushing to save me in your underwear.” He grinned “I almost wish I was in the clutches of a villain so I could have seen that fight.” 

“Yeah, I don’t,” Ted quipped, “The last thing I needed tonight was a supervillain in my bathroom pointing out my love-handles while I slipped on a towel or something while I tried to save my supermodel husband!”

“My hero!” Booster flung himself back and dramatically threw his arm across his eyes. Booster began to laugh. “If anything, I think that would have only made me fall in love with you even more!- Blue Beetle always doing the impossible!” He smiled and shoved Ted. 

Ted couldn’t help but laugh with him, “Yeah, I bet.” He leaned over to Booster and planted a kiss on his cheek. One kiss turned into him peppering the blonds face in a ridiculous amount of kisses. 

Blue and Gold laughed and fell back against the cushions. As Ted kissed him on the lips and Booster kissed back, he knew they were going to be fine.


End file.
